Things are heating up at the bottom of the Bundesliga table: FC St. Pauli and FSV Mainz 05 celebrate crucial wins, while Werder coach Daniel Thioune’s debut falls flat.
Borussia Dortmund has added new excitement to the Bundesliga title race. Coach Niko Kovac’s team secured a lucky 2-1 (1-0) win at relegation-threatened VfL Wolfsburg.
With this win, BVB cut the gap to league-leading FC Bayern Munich to three points. The German record champions host third-place TSG 1899 Hoffenheim this Sunday (5:30 p.m./DAZN) and can extend their lead over Dortmund back to six points at the end of Matchday 21.
VfB Stuttgart, who had recently been playing with enthusiasm, dropped crucial points in the race for Champions League spots. The cup champions lost 1-2 (0-1) at FC St. Pauli. Meanwhile, Daniel Thioune’s Bundesliga debut as coach of SV Werder Bremen went awry. Despite having a man advantage for much of the match, the Hanseatic side lost 0-1 (0-1) at SC Freiburg and have now gone eleven games without a win.
In the battle to avoid relegation, 1. FC Heidenheim suffered another setback. In a clash of the bottom teams, the league’s last-place side lost their home match against Hamburger SV 0-2 (0-1). Thanks to Nadiem Amiri’s sixth and seventh converted penalties of the season (8th and 80th minutes), FSV Mainz 05 defeated FC Augsburg 2-0 (1-0).
On Thioune’s debut: Beste spoils the party
In Thioune’s Bundesliga debut, Freiburg’s Niklas Beste (13th minute) spoiled the party with a beautiful curling shot to make it 1-0. Werder had played with a man advantage for a long time after Johan Manzambi was sent off with a red card in the 52nd minute following a nasty foul.
Meanwhile, the situation is becoming increasingly precarious for 1. FC Heidenheim. Following the HSV goals by Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer (45+3) and Rayan Philippe (78), the bottom-placed team is already six points behind 16th place, the relegation spot.
They are also already four points behind 17th-place FC St. Pauli, as the Hamburg side managed to beat Stuttgart thanks to goals by Manolis Saliakas (35th) and Danel Sinani (55th) on a penalty kick. Jamie Lewelling’s (90th) goal came too late for VfB.